Mrs Leong Chong

Mrs. Leong Chong moved from the McCarthy Ranch in 1941 to the two-story house adjacent to Bing Chong's home on 14th Street between W and X street, next and south of the alley way.  Her sons Jue and Sam also moved up from the farm to live with her in Sacramento.

The Interstate 80 freeway now passes through the entire block between W and X street now, paving over much of our roots.  Shee Leong Chong's picture at the left was taken at Ronald's Birthday Party at 2225 13th Street, Sacramento, 1945.   She loved to walk the neighborhood to visit her children and grandchildren.

Tai's (great grandma) maiden surname name is Joong, when she arrived in the United States.
 

Sam Chong

Pictured below at right are Look, George, and Sam Chong.  In 1947, Sam married Rose Hing, and moved into their corner home at 13th and W Streets.  From a prior marriage, Rose had a daughter Margaret who later married Bill Lim, and had a son Michael Lim.  Michael attended McClatchy with Nancy and Darryl, and  graduated from the UC Santa Barbara, and later from dental school.  Sam Chong liked to hunt for deer when he lived at the corner of 13th & W Streets, across the street and two homes away from George Chongs.  He liked to share venison with nearby relatives, though one had to acquire a taste for venison. Stuart and Jennie Chin lived next to the alley on 13th Street, on the west side between W and X Streets.  Bing Chong lived one and half blocks southeast on 14th Street, and Eddie Chan one block north at 13th and V Streets, and Tommy Chan in a duplex at 13th and X Streets.  George Chong lived two houses to the north, across W Street. 

Look and May Chong, Davis Sun, Rose and Sam Chong, 1960

Look, George, Sam Chong

Mike Lim writes on 11/17/01:   Sam used to take him to the McCarthy Ranch in the 1950's when he was between 7 and 10 (1953-56).  They would visit Uncle Look's ranch, and then proceed to Isleton.  There was a shop at the ranch that we would go, which consisted of a barn similar to the one in the picture, and another pole barn on the other side.  There were two men who were mechanics there.  One was a tall man named Bill Laudermelt, and the other was a shorter fellow, believed to live in Isleton.  Sam would go to Isleton to check his P.O. Box and then we would go to the shop, which was in the vicinity.  They still must have been doing some harvesting at that time because I remember in the shop there were stacks of those blades you see in the picture, they were removable and the two men were sharpening them. 

After asparagus farming in the delta declined, Jue moved up to Sacramento in early 1941, living next door to Bing Chong with grandma Chong and Sam.  Jue had attained a good measure of success, becoming a founding partner of General Produce, after succeeding in the farm plow business.   He also became good friends with Lee Chong's daughter-in-law Ann Chong, and would go to movies together while her husband George Chong was working.  Jue Chong suffered from bleeding ulcers.  He died in 1941, the same year he moved to Sacramento.

Recollections of Marion Owyang Wong of Isleton, 4/26/2002:    Jue Chong was a good friend of my husband Mr. Wong.  He usually dropped by after dinner each and every nite to chat and visit us.  Our store was called the National Cafe.  One night he didn't show up, we were told that he was in the hospital.  When he was released he came down to visit that afternoon, must be the following day, he said he was going hunting.  Later the following day I heard he died of a hemorrhage.  I believe he said he had an ulcer operation.  We lost a great good friend.

Marion's recollection suggests that Jue Chong did not retire once he moved to the 14th Street house in Sacramento.  But rather, he continued to commute to the Look Chong's ranch, where they continued the plow business.  That would make sense, if he visited his good friend Mr. Wong at the National Cafe, each evening after dinner.

Joe's death certificate stated he was a Contractor, Farming industry.  He died on December 9, 1941 at 12:15 am at 2321 14th Street.  He had been attended by Dr Raymond Primasing from October 1 to December 9.  Official cause of death was coronary occlusion due to coronary sclerosis, i.e. heart attack -- contrary to what some relatives had believed, bleeding ulcers.

Look Chong

After the asparagus business declined, Look Chong decided to run his own farm on the huge 880-acre E. L. Shelly Ranch in the middle of Grand Island, and east of Ryde.   He married a nice woman, May Yee, who was Dan Yee's sister.  Look spent his life farming a big ranch, across the river and just north of Isleton.  Jue Chong told him, "Don't farm that ranch, it's too big for you.  You're gonna lose your butt."  Look invested his plow money into the ranch, but made the mistake of going into partnership with a white accountant, who embezzled all the money from Look's share of the plow business.  Not only that, his partner, being an accountant, manipulated the books, and took Look for a bundle of money.  When they caught up with the accountant, the accountant committed suicide.

When the Bing Chong family, and Sam, Jue, and grandma Chong moved to Sacramento in 1941, Bing, Sam, and Jue helped Look purchase the Wolf Ranch.  Shortly thereafter, the brothers turned over the asparagus plow business to Look to completely operate and manage.  Donald Leong recalls that they had continued to refine the asparagus plow over the years, with last plow made being the 90th.   The 90th version performed the best, efficiently chopping the asparagus roots so that the asparagus would not re-grow.  Toward the end of their farming life, Donald inquired what happened to their best plow.  Apparently, Look had took a torch and cut it up, to protect their design secrets from being copied, after which he continued to use the plow #65 for contract work.

Their ranch house had a long inside stairways, leading up to the kitchen area at the area of the house.  There was a big family gathering for Look's birthday at the ranch house, perhaps for his 55th.  Its believed Look was the only brother to actually own a ranch.  They were a nice couple; they did not have children.  May was the sister of Dan Yee, whose wife Mary Yee currently lives in Sacramento in 2001.
 

Look Chong

May Chong

Look and May continued to farm the ranch up until 1961, when he had a fatal coronary driving the truck and trailer rig on the River Road, at an early age of 58.  May moved to a duplex off 25th Avenue in the South Land Park Terrace district in Sacramento.  She died just two years later in 1963 at 55 years of age.  Below is a picture of the Look Chong ranch house  at 14486 Victory Highway (Hwy 160), 2.6 miles south of Ryde.  The house recently had an upstairs deck added to the front.
 
 

Garrett Smith ranch on Grand Island, leased by Bing Chong in 1936, and purchased by Look in 1941.

Warren Smith house just south of Garrett ranch

East Lawn resting place

Grandma Chong lived a long life, having outlived her two sons Lee and Jue, and daughters Moy and Lin.  She died two days after turning 87 years old in 1958 in Sacramento, California.  She was bured at the East Lawn Cemetery, near the site shown below.
 
 

Shee Leong Chong resting place at East Lawn

  Continued
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